The immune response is a relatively recent evolutionary development found only in vertebrates. This complex system has multiple components, which include antigens, antibodies, complement, and various types of white blood cells such as B and T lymphocytes. The interaction of these components collectively results in a reaction that serves to protect the host from the potentially adverse effects of infectious organisms. Antigens are proteins, polysaccharides (complex carbohydrates), or foreign substances that trigger an immune response; they include molecules that are important constituents of bacteria, viruses, and fungi and substances that mark the surfaces of foreign materials such as pollen or transplanted tissue. Antibodies, or immunoglobulins, are proteins raised against specific antigens; they are formed in the lymph nodes and bone marrow by mature B lymphocytes called plasma cells and are released into circulation to bind and neutralize antigens located throughout the body. This type of response, called humoral immunity, is active mainly against toxins and free pathogens (those not ingested by phagocytes) in body fluids. A second type of response, called cell-mediated immunity, does not yield antibodies but instead generates T lymphocytes that are reactive against specific antigens. This defense is exhibited against bacteria and viruses that have been taken up by the host’s cell as well as against fungi, transplanted tissue, and cancer cells. In each case the immune response prevents the invaders from causing further damage to the host. The complement system is a group of proteins found in the blood that facilitates the immune response by both attracting phagocytes to the area of invasion and forming a complex that results in lysis of the foreign cell.

Two remarkable qualities of the immune system are specificity and memory. When an antigen enters the body, it elicits production of either a specific antibody or specific immunologically competent cells; that is, the antibody or the cells will neutralize only the antigen that evokes them. Furthermore, the system exhibits what appears to be memory: once challenged by an antigen, such as the measles virus, the body “remembers” it for years and perhaps for life. The child who has an attack of measles becomes immune for life. If the child is exposed to this specific antigen at a later date, the immune system recognizes it and responds and thereby prevents a reinfection. Indeed, these two characteristics of the immune system, specificity and memory, serve as the basis for preventive immunization. Inoculation of infants or children with inactivated or attenuated biotic agents will cause the immune system to be made alert to such an antigen should it appear at a later date. Poliomyelitis, for example, once dreaded as a cause of paralysis and death, has been effectively controlled if not abolished with the poliovaccine.

What has been said will aid in understanding why certain illnesses (such as measles) seem to affect only children. While these viral diseases can affect persons of any age, most adults have had previous exposure to the antigens (viruses) and are thus immune. Children with no previous exposure have no specific immunity to these invaders and consequently develop the diseases.

Thus, the immune system is a vital part of the defense against biotic invasion. However, if it malfunctions, the immune system may also cause disease.

By replacing damaged or destroyed cells with healthy new cells, the processes of repair and regeneration work to restore an individual’s health after injury. Unlike the salamander, which is capable of regenerating a limb if it is lost, humans cannot regenerate whole organs or limbs. If one kidney is destroyed by disease, it is permanently lost. However, the remaining contralateral kidney, if normal, is capable of limited regeneration to compensate for the decrease in kidney mass. The many cell types of the body have varying capacities for regeneration.

Regeneration is the production of new cells exactly like those destroyed. Of the three categories of human cells—(1) the labile cells, which multiply throughout life, (2) the stable cells, which do not multiply continuously but can do so when necessary, and (3) the permanent cells, incapable of multiplication in the adult—only the permanent cells are incapable of regeneration. These are the brain cells and the cells of the skeletal and heart muscles.

Labile cells are those of the bone marrow, the lymphoid tissues, the skin, and the linings of most ducts and hollow organs of the body.

Stable cells are found in the liver, in many of the glands of the body, such as the pancreas and salivary glands, in the lining of the kidney tubules, and in the connective tissues. Normally these cells do not divide unless some are destroyed by disease or injury and must be replaced.

If only a small area of the liver (made up of stable cells) is damaged or destroyed, unaffected cells around the area of injury can replace those that were lost. When large areas of the liver are destroyed, however, cellular regeneration cannot occur, and the area of cell loss is replaced by new healthy connective-tissue cells, which produce scars. If a heart attack occurs, a certain number of heart muscle cells (permanent cells) are killed because of loss of blood supply. Because heart muscle cells cannot regenerate, the area of injury is replaced by a scar (if the patient survives). Such repair is by no means perfect, but it nonetheless permits restoration of reasonable heart function with perhaps only a slightly reduced level of health, depending on the number of heart muscle cells that have been lost.

Cellular regeneration in humans is limited by many other factors, such as the availability of blood supply and a supporting connective tissue. When the blood vessels and supporting cells (connective tissue) are destroyed in the liver along with the liver cells, perfect reconstitution of the liver is not possible. There may be some regrowth of liver cells, but they do not form the normal liver architecture, and the newly regenerated cells cannot function because they do not have an appropriate orientation to the blood vessels and bile ducts.

A review of the events that occur after a simple cut in the skin provides a good example of the processes of regeneration. At first, the area becomes red, swollen, and painful because of the inflammatory reaction. A scab forms. Beneath the scab, while the inflammatory process is going on, the cells from the adjacent healthy skin begin to regenerate by dividing and growing over the damaged area. If the damage is minor, perfect reconstruction of the skin and its appendages is likely to result. If the damage has extended below the skin surface, deeper connective-tissue cells, notably the fibroblasts, proliferate and fill the area. These cells lay down collagen (connective-tissue protein) composed of tough, durable fibrils (minute fibres), and, eventually, scar formation ensues. Once scarring has occurred, it cannot be reversed, although considerable shrinking of the scar may occur. If scar formation is limited, total function will return. On the other hand, if scar tissue formation is excessive, it often leads to a loss of function of the part.

Another mechanism of defense is hemostasis, the prevention of loss of blood from damaged blood vessels by formation of a clot. (This process is covered more at length in the article blood: Bleeding and blood clotting.) Simply stated, a break in a blood vessel leads to activation of a complex sequence of events that results in the formation of a solid plug of platelets, red blood cells, and fibrin (a fibrous protein formed from fibrinogen). This plug, or clot, seals the damaged vessel and prevents further loss of blood (hemorrhage). The numerous components of the blood called clotting factors contribute in sequential fashion to the formation of the clot. (The clotting factors are commonly referred to by a roman numeral rather than by name. Fibrinogen, for example, is clotting factor I.) A defect in one of these factors can undermine hemostasis; for example, the absence of clotting factor VIII leads to hemophilia A, a disorder of uncontrolled bleeding.

Interrelationship of defensive mechanisms

The homeostatic and defensive mechanisms involved in maintaining a constant internal environment are complex and yet wonderfully coordinated. Thus, the normal state of health is not a static condition but exists rather within a narrow range maintained by the coordinated responses of many systems and mechanisms. Health requires the proper function of all these controls. Disease may begin in a single organ or system, but the interdependence and close coordination of the many bodily functions, which cooperate so beautifully in health, may be upset by a chain reaction when one breaks down. A disease of the kidney leading to abnormal retention of sodium, for example, can cause hypertension (high blood pressure). Prolonged hypertension in turn can induce heart failure, and this can result in the abnormal collection of fluid in the lungs. The impairment of respiratory function may then result in a sudden rise in the level of carbon dioxide in the blood, which brings with it further complications. Similarly, if the normal inflammatory response malfunctions, a trivial skin infection (popularly known as a pimple) can enlarge into a boil (a furuncle). The responsible bacterial agents may proliferate in the local site and penetrate small blood vessels to seed the bloodstream, thus causing a generalized infection (septicemia or bacteremia). Such a widespread infection is extremely serious and may cause secondary infections of the heart (endocarditis) or of the coverings of the brain (meningitis) and end in death of the host.

Thus, health implies the proper functioning of the homeostatic mechanisms that have just been described, including those systems involved in the defense of health. The state of disease basically represents a failure of these mechanisms. Although one tends to think of disease in terms of offending agents, these agents are able to produce disease only by their ability to disrupt normal homeostasis, and it is precisely those disruptions that are the manifestations of disease.

Inspire your inbox –
Sign up for daily fun facts about this day in history, updates, and special offers.

By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Click here to view our Privacy Notice. Easy unsubscribe links are provided in every email.

Thank you for subscribing!

Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.